Stolen dog reunited with owner thanks to microchip

Cook County deputies conducting an eviction in Garfield Park discovered a malnourished dog that had been stolen before Thanksgiving from a home nearby, officials said this afternoon.

Macho -- a 6-year-old bull mastiff and American bulldog mix -- was identified from a microchip its owner had implanted in the dog, the sheriff's office said.

Macho was reported missing on Nov. 23. He had been left in the family's yard for the day and, when they got home, he was gone, the office said. Neighbors reported seeing someone in the yard area that afternoon.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, deputies arrived at 400 N. Trumbull Ave. to evict a man who hadn't paid his rent in months, the office said. They found a teenage boy home alone, along with three dogs -- "two severely malnourished and one starved to death," the sheriff's office said.

The dead dog, an adult female, was found in an unheated basement, along with an emaciated puppy, it said. Macho was found in an unheated garage. Temperatures in the garage and basement were below freezing, and deputies said they found no food or water nearby.

"Antonio Harris, 38, came home during the eviction and was immediately arrested on three counts of animal cruelty - a class A misdemeanor," the office said.

Deputies said the charges could be upgraded because the dog had died from starvation. A microchip in that dog showed it was stolen from a home in Bellwood, the sheriff's office said.

Harris claimed the other two dogs were his, but deputies found the microchip in Macho.

Macho's owner told deputies he had had another dog stolen and decided to implant the microchip -- the size of a grain of rice -- in Macho.

Harris is free on bond. His next court date is 9 a.m. on Feb. 2 at Branch 43 at Harrison and Kedzie.